In-kind assistance for Kurdistan

On 18-19 October 2017, the Polish Humanitarian Action (PAH) started its project of distributing parcels with food and hygiene kits in Kurdistan. The aid was delivered to 1,150 families (around 6,440 people) who live in northern Iraq’s Khabat District.

The PAH project Polish Emergency Response Team in Kurdistan addresses some of the basic humanitarian problems that are afflicting the Kurdistan region and Iraq. Since early 2014, Iraq has been engulfed in one of the world’s most serious crises, alongside Syria. The hostilities in the region force local communities to be constantly on the move in search of safe haven and work.

According to UN OCHA figures, the conflict resulted in approximately 3.2 million IDPs, and left more than 11 million in need of humanitarian assistance. The humanitarian situation is extremely volatile and makes it hard to plan long-term aid measures in the most vulnerable areas close to the fighting zone.

The PAH project develops an aid mechanism that would be effective in such circumstances. The Polish Emergency Response Team in Kurdistan regularly assesses the needs on the ground and identifies IDPs and members of the local community who are most in need of assistance. Such people receive in-kind relief aid in response to their specific needs by deliveries of parcels with food, hygiene kits and winter supplies.

Operations of the Polish Emergency Response Team in Kurdistan are co-funded by the Polish MFA’s development cooperation programme.